Sonic & Knuckles Collection

20 years ago today, Sonic the Hedgehog was unleashed onto an unsuspecting world, transforming the gaming landscape in a blur of blue. But while we'll be celebrating that classic original in its own right today, it was almost very different. Unused features buried in retail cartridges, preview screenshots and even instruction manuals all hint at features we never got to play in the very first Sonic game. But thanks to the avid Sonic fan community, we can now see them all! So roll up for the Sonic freak show - you won't believe your eyes.

Ever since Sonic Unleashed was confirmed earlier this month we've been digging up all kinds of Sonic tidbits for you to chew on, from his rise and fall to the best moments the series has produced over the years. Today we're diving into the cringe-worthy missteps Sonic has taken since his inception. The Rise/Fall article spelled out, in detail, how the franchise has slid since 1991, but

This is really weird, so brace yourself. Many years ago, while toiling away in the Toys "R" Us salt mines, I was in charge of the electronics department. This included the glut of cheapo PC software the company carries, from seven-year-old games that will never sell to brand new, hardware-crunching titles that no one shopping in that store could ever install. The amount of unsold software was so choking that some

Oh, Sonic. What's happened to you? It's no small secret that Sega's once-dominant mascot has slipped over the years, with awful games making things worse by the month. But worldwide love is still strong, and each time there's a new platformer announced we shuffle in line like a bunch of nice devoted fanboys and pray, deep down, that this will be the Sonic game that doesn't suck.